Neighborhood Capital Improvement Project grants have been a major source of funding for many of VPCA’s projects in the past. Our entryways, decorative street signs, the roundabout at 14th Avenue and 6th Street have all relied on NCIP funding.

The Victoria Park Civic Association is soliciting members and residents for ideas for new projects. If you have an idea for improvements to our neighborhood, please feel free to submit it to us at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. We’ll post it here. We’re at the concept phase, so just provide us with a brief description: the purpose of the project, location or locations for installation — and if you have it an estimate of what it cost to install and maintain the project.

You may submit as many ideas as you have for the upcoming NCIP grant cycle — although VPCA will be able to submit only one project per funding cycle.

Here are some ideas, which have been suggested in the past. In no particular order:

Low-level pedestrian lighting In April,VPCA voted to fully fund low level lighting in the Progresso Hammock Memorial Greenway (the pocket part at 7th St and 14th ave). Installing it under a matching NCIP grant would reduce the out-of-pocket cost to the association. Total project cost: $15,000 VPCA selected this project for our 2015 NCIP grant application -- we are currently awaiting the city's decision.

Bicycle AmenitiesThe city is working with us to add bike lanes and sharrows as local Victoria Park streets are repaved in the near future. Additional striping, directional and safety signs plus bike parking would complete the entire bike grid contemplated in the VPCA traffic plan. Total project cost: $7,000 FDOT and the city are in the process of installing the bicycle-route pavement markings.

Stranahan Point Pocket Park

Converting the right-of-way at 7th St and the Middle River into a pocket park with landscaping and park furniture. Total project cost $20,000

Improved Holiday Park Access & Traffic Calming

New sidewalks along NE 14th Avenue and NE 7th Street; possible connection between NE 10th and 14th along the southern edge of the park; traffic calming measures at the NE 9th Street entrance south of Art Serve. Total project cost: depends on scope of work.

Dynamic speed signs.

"Radar signs" that report a vehicle's speed. To qualify for NCIP funding, the signs would have to be mounted on posts in the right-of-way (not deployed on trailers). Multiple post locations would allow the signs to be moved to various locations. Total project cost: $3000 per sign.

Raised Crosswalks.

Raised crosswalks act as speed humps at intersections – slowing traffic and encouraging drivers to fully stop at stop signs. They are more cost-effective than speed humps and under new city policies, easier to implement than speed humps. Possible locations: Victoria Park Road at 5th Street, 7th Street at 19th Avenue, along 6th Street. Total project cost: $13,000 per crosswalk.

20th Avenue Traffic Calming.

A landscaped median or reconfigured parking on the 800 block of NE 20th Avenue would narrow traffic lanes, slow vehicle speeds and act as a visual transition from the business uses near Gateway and the residential areas to the south. Total project cost: depends on design and scope of the work.

Entryway monuments.

We currently have entryway monuments on most collector streets coming into the neighborhood. Possible additional locations: NE 15th Avenue north of Broward ("Pine Crest Village") or 4th Street at 7th Avenue ("Fresh Market"). Another possibility is a joint-project with Colee Hammock for landscaped entryway bulb-outs to calm and direct traffic on Broward Boulevard just east of 15th Avenue. Total project cost: $40,000 per installation.

Retrofitting existing infrastructure – various locations.

Filling in the missing links in our sidewalk grid, connecting sidewalks to crosswalks, narrowing travel lanes to slow traffic, reducing the size of intersections to encourage drivers to come to a complete stop, removing sidewalk obstructions, planting street trees. Total project cost: depends on the scope of the work.

If you would like to be alerted when new proposals are added to this page, let us know your email address and we’ll be sure to contact you with any updates.

We’ve added a survey to this page where you can vote for your favorite/least favorite ideas. The survey should pop up at the right side of the page. If it doesn't, feel free to email us your comments at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

FORUM??

NCIP GRANTS

Each year the City of Fort Lauderdale offers matching grants, up to $35,000, to neighborhood organizations for installation of capital improvements. Neighborhoods must match the city grant dollar-for-dollar — the neighborhood contribution can come in the form of cash, sweat equity, or points earned in community service programs.

It is a competitive process: neighborhoods submit a formal grant proposal, city staff reviews and ranks the submitted proposals and recommends funding to the City Commission based on those rankings. In the past, the city has earmarked about $250,000 annually for NCIP projects. (There is a similar program for businesses — the Business Capital Improvement Project — which funded paver crosswalks, sidewalk reconstruction and landscaping along NE 9th Place behind Gateway. If any of our business members would like to pursue similar funding, let us know.)

Typically, NCIP applications must be submitted in the late summer/early autumn, with the city finally awarding the grants early in the following year. For full details click on the image to the right.

Applicants must attend a workshop before submitting a proposal. Our Aesthetics Committee has been successful in getting grants in the past, and they have offered to guide us through that process again. VPCA can submit only one proposal per year, and that application must address a single concern.

FUNDRAISING

NCIP grants require a matching contribution from the neighborhood. The most common matching contribution is made in cash, although the city will accept “sweat equity” and in some cases, points earning through community service projects. Currently most of VPCA’s funds are either dedicated to past NCIP projects or earmarked for specific uses. Our currently unrestricted funds ensure the fiscal integrity of the association — they make sure our bills can be paid on time. There is little available in the bank to meet the matching requirements of new NCIP grants.

As part of any new grant application we will have to have a corresponding source of funds. Our current fundraisers: Art and Jazz in the Park and Cause for Paws help to cover the cost of maintaining past capital improvements. Another fundraiser, our Holiday Home Tour has been on hiatus for the past couple of years due to economic considerations. Any suggestions on new fundraising activities would be greatly appreciated. Please email your ideas to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.